Welcome to the DKC Atlas Forum, please read all of the rules and guidelines below before posting.

Key rules to follow:

Use proper grammar and punctuation.

Be respectful to fellow forum goers. Insults and prejudiced comments will not be tolerated.

Only post if you have something worthwhile to share. This goes double for bumping old topics.

Don’t request or provide links to any commercial ROMs.

Do not disobey any reasonable requests of the forum Administrator or Moderators.

Pretty simple, right? These are the most important rules. If you obey these, and use common sense, you’ll be fine. These issues and others will be addressed in greater detail below. If you have any doubt at all, please take the time to read this post in its entirety:

Grammar:

Keep spelling mistakes to a minimum. We will forgive you if you can't spell big complicated words, but just try your best. Take your time and proof read your posts.

Capitalise the words at the beginning of a sentence, and use commas and full-stops/periods where appropriate. Type like you care about what you’re saying.

Avoid using internet abbreviations, such as "lol" as part of your regular vocabulary here. They are silly.

Posting:

Only post if you have something constructive to say. If your reply is three words or less, chances are it's not worth posting.

Use smilies in moderation. We have them for a reason, but please don't overuse them.

Avoid double-posting. If you have something more to say, just edit it into your previous post.

Don't post in or 'bump' old topics if you have nothing significant to add. If you have some radical new theory relating to the subject, or there is some more news worth talking about, then it is okay.

Avoid editing your post once someone has replied to it. Doing so can make the topic confusing to read.

If you have something to say to one particular user, don't start a new topic. That's why we have "PMs".

If you are going to go all out against someone in a debate, backup what you're saying with intelligent information. If you don't have a case, you'll lose the argument.

Don't post just to raise your rank. You will be banned.

Please keep all posts on-topic. Posting for the sake of humour alone is acceptable in moderation, but if it leads a topic off-topic, you are likely to have your posts removed.

Please avoid quoting an entire post, especially if you are posting directly beneath, or if the quoted post is of multiple lines in length.

Topic Starting:

Don't start topics that are more-or-less identical to ones already in existence. We need only one.

When starting a topic, make sure it's in the right discussion/subforum. The admins/mods will fix it for you every once in a while, but please try to pay attention to what you're doing.

Avatars: (for when we have a more established avatar gallery)

Don't use Avatars that are already taken. If you do this by mistake, someone will tell you, and then just change it. No big deal.

Ask first if you want to make your own, and show Qyzbud or one of the Mods before you use it. If they don’t like it, change it. Please don't complain.

ROMs:

General discussion of ROMs is fine.

Posting ROM-altering IPS or UPS patches is also fine.

Discussion of homebrew is also OK, as it is still technically legal.

Don't talk about how to download ROMs from sites, or about how you downloaded them, etc.

Do not provide, request, post, or provide links to any commercial ROMs. This is a bannable offense.

ROM Dis-Assemblies:

A full ROM dis-assembly still counts as a full ROM. Do not request, post, or provide links to these either.No whole-game disassemblies (or substantial portions, as defined by site staff) will be allowed. Whole-game disassemblies turn into the runnable game, even if there are no graphics included, and this is considered too substantial for sharing on our forum.

Very specific code snippets (ASM or otherwise), and notable routines/documentation (and discussion of these), are still allowed.Discussion of disassemblies is also OK; but if you distribute or link to them (even by PM) you are breaking the rules.

Thank you for taking the time to read these rules and guidelines. Most of it is common sense, so they should be easy to remember and abide by. Of course, every rule has its exceptions. Any user who speaks English as their second language will be given breaks for spelling mistakes, etc. Also, we understand that mistakes happen, and we aren’t too strict. If you just abide by the rules cheerfully, you will have a good stay here.

However...

If you are Banned

Do not pester us to have your account reinstated.

Generally, bans will only be temporary (1 week, 1 month, etc.)

Do not register a different account. We will ban you again, and for longer than before.

We have a nice little community going on, and we'd like to keep it that way.

Thanks to Jomingo for helping to create this very reasonable guide to our forum policies.

It was originally in there, but I've decided to let people use profanities if they want to. I will use the word censoring filter to 'auto-replace' such language... You can disable the word censoring if you like, which means that you can see the uncensored version of posts. It's on by default, so anyone can browse the forum without being offended by such language. Of course, crude language really just makes you look bad, so I wouldn't recommend using it here, or anywhere.

There should probably be a link to the forum rules on the main page, or something to that effect. I mean, it seems to be the most logical place to put something so important. I don't know if doing that would ruin the layout of the forum, though. Whatever you think looks/works best, I guess.

Like Jomingo said, swearing (that's what we call 'cussing' down under) at someone is entirely different from just using a swear word for emphasis. The be respectful rule certainly implies that no user is allowed to swear at another user. You can say "f--- that" if something really annoys you (like if a game is delayed or your favourite character is dropped from a game... *cough*Brawl*cough*), but not "f--- you" if someone annoys you.

I agree with the idea, though I don't see it as necessary. I think that having suspensions called temporary bans sort of makes them seem like more of a big deal, and perhaps would make members take it more seriously if it happened to them. I'm sure I would care more if I got a temporary ban than a temporary suspension. It's been said before many times that the rules are in need of an update. Perhaps Qyz and us Mods should talk this idea over.

(Sorry for the late post, I was gone)I agree with Jomingo here. If it's not called a ban, it does not sound as serious and less people will take the given punishment as seriously as they should. This will result in more users having declined adherence to the rules, and therefore more shenanigans could and will be underway at any given moment. Speaking of shenanigans...

Because of the "donkey kong country 4" HOAX that has recently come to pass, I suggest that we have a new rule here on the forum.

New proposed rule:-DO NOT make ANY posts claiming that there is a DKC4 being made without an official announcement from Nintendo having been previously made. Idea threads for fan-games (regardless of name) and speculative threads and are fine, but official DKC4 thread(s) are NOT allowed unless the game officially exists.Any such threads will immediately be locked.-------------------------

I've learned my lesson, there is no way I'm going to fall for that bullsh** again.EDIT: Added the last part of the proposed rule, in bold.

I would say not to post anything you're not 100% sure it's feasible, regardless of being a Nintendo-made, Rare-made or Anything-made.Or just not to tell lies (as impersonating a Nintendo employee and such), though your writing looks more menacing.*Still his grammar and statements were bad enough to doubt/not believe him anyway

I would say that I initially fell for this out of false hope, but within a few minutes/hours had realized my error. I did take into account the fact that if he were working at Nintendo, maybe he wasn't supposed to tell anyone and was typing very quickly with horrible grammar to get the message out fast... but alas, that was not the case.

But the rule itself is still valid. At the very least, users should report troll posts like that, so that it does not go unnoticed.

I agree that a rule prohibiting spreading false rumors would be good, though not one quite as specific as Simion's. I think something more general, prohibiting all forms of intentionally lying to the community.

I do suppose my rule was too specific. So we need something that will generally cover all such cases, rather than specifically dealing with one rumor/hoax/etc...

New proposed rule (revised):DO NOT make ANY posts or threads that...-claim false or completely unverifiable information (do not lie)-attempt to intimidate users (an example is claiming to be a Nintendo employee)-attempt to spread false information as proven fact (spreading lies is bad)...any such threads or posts will immediately be locked and sent to the Post Mortuary.

How about this revised rule set? It needs to be condensed a little, but that would basically cover most of it.

I like it.Though I think there could be an exception for people who thought something they said was true; it wouldn't be intentional, and just a warning, to go check facts before posting, would be ok for only the first time, in my humble opinion.

New proposed rule (revision #2):DO NOT make ANY posts or threads intentionally claiming false or completely unverifiable information, attempting to intimidate users, or attempting to spread known false information as proven fact. Users that are unaware that they have false information will be given an appropriate warning per case at the Moderator's discretion. However, trolling will not be tolerated, and any such threads or posts will immediately be locked and sent to the Post Mortuary. Users exhibiting troll behavior will only get one warning, after which punishment may be in order.If a user continues bad behavior after being given a warning, it could result in the topic/post being locked and sent to the Post Mortuary and/or Probation or a Ban. Again, this rule is enforced on a case-by-case basis.

Sounds good. I will work that in to the revised rules I'll be making soon.

And of course, you are right that if they think it's true it's a different case. For instance, when Tiptup naively posted that Brawl had DLC. The DKC4 topic proves that some people are easily tricked by lies, so it's understandable that people will sometimes post false things thinking its true. It's an innevitability that we have to live with in a world that can communicate quickly through the wonders of the internet; lies happen.

1. Click User Control Panel at the top of the page.2. Click the Profile tab.3. Click the Link below that says Edit avatar.4. From here, you may either link to an avatar on the web, or you can upload you own avatar from your computer.

EDIT: Here was not the place to ask this question. However, I see you have already chosen an avatar.

It's genuinely admirable that you made correct grammar as a rule, we represent the Donkey Kong fanbase. The last thing I would ever want is for people to think that we're too apathetic that we actually say "u" instead of "you". As for no swearing, I think it's reasonable. I mean it's just a word, and it can be used to emphasize emotions better. Thank you for trying to make us seem like a respectful fanbase Qyzzy!

I have never been banned but i have went close to it before, i am not that sure, but one thing not to do when you get banned is create another account, someone did that and his ban was longer, i'm pretty sure he is unbanned now.

These rules somewhat apply to the newest people such as myself and others who are also new, I guess you could say these rules really do have a purpose, if these rules didn't apply, chaos could spread throughout the entire atlas.